The Williams Stadium expansion project officially launched construction on Jan. 4, 2010, and LibertyFlames.com will be providing daily updates throughout the process via this expansion blog.

Starting today, LibertyFlames.com will be adding two or three photos each day (Monday through Friday) to the Williams Stadium expansion photo gallery link (see above), providing viewers the latest images throughout the eight-month stadium expansion process.

Additionally, the web site will be providing updates throughout the construction process through the expansion blog below.

The latest blog entries will be posted first. A blog post history will follow, allowing viewers to track the updates until the stadium expansion process is completed in time for Liberty’s 2010 grand re-opening of Williams Stadium against Savannah State on Oct. 2, 2010.

Previous Blog Entries: Due to the larger number of photos our previous blog entries have included and the download problems larger groups of photos can create, we are going to start dividing each month’s blog entries up into a separate page. To view a previous month’s blog entry list, please click the appropriate link below:

Oct. 1, 2010: At the beginning of the work week, many who visited the Williams Stadium expansion site on Monday might have doubted that the facility would be ready for Liberty’s Oct. 2 home game against Savannah State. However, countless amounts of hours have been worked this week by both Branch & Associate, Inc., and University staff members to put the finishing touches on the nine-month expansion project. Tomorrow night, the five-story facility will open to the general public for the first time and a record-setting crowd is expected to watch Liberty face Savannah State in its final non-conference regular-season contest of the year. Following their weekly walk through practice, Liberty’s football players, coaches, athletic trainings and support staff had their first chance to officially take a quick tour through the facility. We caught up with the group when they were in the Chancellor’s Suite (fifth floor), which now includes a framed photo of Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr., with his father Dr. Jerry Falwell, on the sideline of Liberty football game. This will be the second to last post for the Williams Stadium expansion blog, a blog that has daily coverage the expansion progress of Liberty’s new home for football. We will close out the blog early next week with a complete photo gallery from inside the facility during game day.

Sept. 30, 2010: Today was a huge delivery day around the Williams Stadium tower, as truckload after truckload of furniture was unloaded throughout the day. Additionally, several truckloads of food and drinks were delivered to the three concession areas that will undergo a health inspection tomorrow morning. Televisions were installed during the afternoon on the suite level, while decorators spent a good portion of the day finishing off the suite level by hanging pictures frames and positioning furniture. Finally, the Chancellor’s suite saw the most improvement on the day, as one of two luxury boxes that can hold 40 people (the other being Jeff Barber’s AD suite) is nearly finished and ready for game day on Saturday (picture No. 9, which includes an impressive view of the Liberty University campus and the Blue Ridge Mountains).

Sept. 29, 2010: A great deal of work took place on the fifth floor of the new Williams Stadium tower on Wednesday, as the press level is nearing completion. Additional countertops have been installed for use in the main media area, while most of the flooring was installed and covered up while the tiles dried overnight. All four of the televisions in the main media area are now in place, while additional work was done in both the Athletics Director and Chancellor suites (picture No. 7 of today’s blog post shows the carpet being installed in Jeff Barber’s Athletics Director suite).

Sept. 28, 2010: Today’s blog post brings you a look inside the fourth floor of the new Williams Stadium tower, the floor that holds the 18 luxury suites (that are currently on a wait list). With the elevators now fully functional, crews spent most of the day delivering furniture to each of the suites. The furniture list includes a plush couch and bar stools with a red Liberty Flames logo engraved on the back of the seat. The two seats of restrooms, one on each end of the floor, have been completed. Additionally, the signage that we talked about yesterday has started to appear on this level.

Sept. 27, 2010: T-minus five days until the grand re-opening of Williams Stadium, as Oct. 2, 2010, is quickly approaching. Today’s blog post, the first in the last final week of full blog posts, takes a look at the signage that is being installed around the new five-story facility. When finished, a total of 288 signs will be hung around the west side of Williams Stadium, providing proper direction in virtually every corner of the facility that has undergone a complete overhaul during the last nine months. Additional work during the weekend around the facility showed that Branch & Associate, Inc., was able to install a Liberty Flames logo in the carpet of the Flames Club Pavilion room (third floor).

Sept. 24, 2010: Some of the final touches around the stadium took great strides on Friday, including several areas that were paved. Crews have been working on Stadium Road most of the week, creating the new entrance into the Luurtsema Center parking lot, plus resurfacing most of the road leading all the way up to the stop sign on University Blvd. The new Luurtsema Center parking lot will provide parking for the soccer and track programs throughout the week, but on football game day, this lot will belong to the suite holders and distinguished guest of the University. Additionally, the path leading from the South gate entrance to the stadium midway was paved on Friday, plus the small driveway on the west side of the Williams Football Operations Center that leads from the parking lot to the field. Finally, Branch & Associate, Inc., received its final shipment of glass on Friday and the expansion crew spent a good portion of the day finishing off installing the large window panes on the back side of the five-story facility.

Sept. 23, 2010: Today’s blog post focuses on the fifth level of the new press tower, the floor which will actually house members of the media during events. Countertops were being installed in most booths, including three radio booths, two coaches booth, a television booth and the working press area (which will seat 32 press members). Additionally, IT work continues on this level, as Technical Productions is still sorting through the 18.5 miles of fiber lines that have been pulled throughout the facility. Finally, we got our first look at the actual elevator today, as both the elevators in the north and south towers are being prepared for their final inspections early next week.

Sept. 22, 2010: After clearing the area for Tuesday night’s Flames Club suite holders’ reception, it did not take long for Branch & Associate, Inc., to quickly bring its equipment back into the press tower on Wednesday to resume work. While giving WSET another tour of the facility for an interview with Director of Athletics Jeff Barber, we were able to take a few photos of the finishing work on the fourth floor. Carpeting was being installed in the hallways and in the lobby area outside of the elevator. Baseboards were also being added to the hallway that overlooks the Flames Club Pavilion room. Additionally, some work was being done to the few remaining windows that need to be installed on the back side of the facility, which overlooks Osborne Stadium. Finally, at some point in the day, the air conditioning unit was turned on for the first time for a test run (which was needed with the temperatures rising to the mid to upper 80 late in the day).

Sept. 21: 2010: Today’s Williams Stadium expansion blog does not include any photos, because all of our photo updates from today were just placed in a story posted on LibertyFlames.com. On Tuesday night, the Flames Club held a welcoming reception for its 18 suite holders (yes, Liberty Athletics has commitments for all 18 suites). Following the reception, the suite holders were giving a tour of the new five-story facility and their first look at their individual suite. The suites will officially open up in less than 12 days, when the Flames re-open Williams Stadium against Savannah State on Oct. 2 (7 p.m. kickoff). Please click here to access the full story, plus the photo gallery (which includes 22 images from the evening event).

Sept. 20, 2010: Following a weekend away from the Williams Stadium expansion project, we found that several areas saw significant improvement since last Thursday. Today’s blog post brings you photos from two different areas – the area outside the expansion project and the third floor of the facility (the new Flames Club Pavilion room). Landscaping improvements are taking place all around the outside of the facility in order to get the area ready for Liberty’s grand re-opening on Oct. 2 against Savannah State. During the morning hours, a truck load of new sod arrived and is ready for one of the final phases of the outside reimaging process. Inside the facility, the third floor saw significant improvements during the weekend, including the completion of nearly all the glass pane installation, the laying down of carpet and almost a completed drop ceiling to cover the 11,000-square foot room.

Sept. 17, 2010: Just because our caravan to Moon Township, Pa., for tomorrow’s match-up with Robert Morris left at 9 a.m. this morning does not mean we do not have a Williams Stadium expansion blog updated for Friday. We took these pictures late Thursday afternoon, after we took the photos of the window pane installation. Work continues on the fourth floor of the facility, as the 18 individual luxury suites will be finished in the next few days. Next Tuesday at 7 p.m., the Flames Club will be hosting an open house event where all the suite holders will be able to tour the facility and get their first look at their finished suite. Microwaves and mini refrigerators have been delivered for each suite, while Liberty’s Technical Productions has nearly finished installing the wall mounts for televisions and the unique wall-mounted remote control (which is the pictured Crestron item below). Additionally, tiling work continues on the restrooms for this level of the facility. Our final picture for today’s blog post was taken inside of Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s suite on the fifth floor, which includes a decorative wall covered with a stone surface (which looks very cool up close).

Sept. 16, 2010: When Branch & Associate, Inc., finishes its work schedule on Friday, all of the remaining work left on the Williams Stadium expansion project will officially be inside the building. Today, the expansion crew spent most of the afternoon installing the window panes for the large glass area on the back side of the facility that overlooks Osborne Stadium. Each tinted window pane is roughly 3’x5’ and there are a total of 120 window panes (12 columns with 10 panes per column). The expansion crew is scheduled to complete this portion of the project by the end of the day on Friday, which will completely enclose the five-story facility.

Sept. 15, 2010: We move up a level for today’s blog post and give you a few photos before the batteries in the camera decided to give out. The fifth level of the press and suite tower is seeing the most significant changes on a day-by-day basis, as this level seems to be completely different each day. The first photo below is a view from the Liberty coaching staff booth, while the next two photos were taken from the camera deck in front of the fifth level, which includes two newly installed sets of steps. The fourth photo is one of many audio and video related accessories that are being installed on this level. Pictured below is an audio box that will be stationed in several of the booths, allowing radio, television and others to each share different audio and video effects during their broadcasts. Finally, the last picture shows the working press area, where the two risers are almost finished and the drop ceiling is currently being installed.

Sept. 14, 2010: Today’s blog entry brings you an inside look into the fourth floor of the new press and suite tower with an update on the 18 individual luxury suites. All 18 suites have been completely carpeted now and most of the cabinet work has been completed. Most of the suites are now just waiting on the cabinet doors to be installed. Liberty’s Technical Production department has finished pulling most of their fiber throughout the facility, which now allows Branch & Associate, Inc., to finish assembling the drop ceilings in each suite.

Sept. 13, 2010: With less than three weeks left until the grand re-opening of Williams Stadium on Oct. 2, finishing work continues all around the expansion site. The areas in front of the new Luurtsema Center and the area behind the south end of the stadium are being prepped for paving and concrete. When finished, the parking lot in front of the Luurtsema Center will provide more than 60 prime parking spaces for suite holders. Late in the day, equipment trucks from Atlantic Equipment Specialists in Danville, Va., continued to unload truck loads of new equipment for the main concession stand and the two auxiliary concession stands at the north and south ends of the stadium. Speaking of the north end of the stadium, the entrance that we showed you last week is nearly finished as much of the area behind the Osborne Stadium press box and the area in front of one of the auxiliary concession stand had finishing concrete poured during the day on Monday. During the next several days, the rest of the new entrance will be finished.

Sept. 10, 2010: The charter flight to Muncie, Ind., left too early in the day for us to any type of progress update photos over at the Williams Stadium expansion site today, but that does not keep up from bringing you an update. While we were touring the facility yesterday, we found several University crews already in the new facility helping with the finishing touches. With three weeks left before Liberty’s grand re-opening of Williams Stadium (on Oct. 2), the University’s Technical Services crew has been in the facility pulling fiber throughout the five-story building for internet access, television and audio/video feeds. The crew is scheduled to complete their portion of the project by next Tuesday and when finished, they will have pulled more than 18.5 miles of fiber throughout the facility.

Sept. 9, 2010: One of the most visible areas from the west side of the Williams Stadium expansion project during the last several months has been the large Flames Club Pavilion room. Today, one of the final major elements in that room was installed, as the framing for most of the three-story windows are now in place. While most of the crew assigned to the area spent the day installing the window framing, the rest of the expansion crew spent time finishing up the drywall that will cover up the major support beams to the area. Additionally, more restroom work was done on the same level, as wall tiling started for the north restroom, including “Liberty red” tiling.

Sept. 8, 2010: For today’s blog post entry, we bring you pictures from the north entrance of Williams Stadium were an entirely new access point is being constructed. The steep hill that Flames fans used to have to climb when coming into the stadium from the northwest gate is gone and has been divided into two access points. A graded-out hill, which starts at the base of the men’s soccer locker room, leads to either a set of stairs straight into the midway or a continued graded hill in the form of a “s” curve that leads up to one of the auxiliary concession stands or the back of Osborne Stadium press box. With most of this new entrance in place, work has begun on repairing the grassy area besides the new bleacher seating in Section 109.

Sept. 7, 2010: The Williams Stadium expansion blog returns today following a few days off for the Labor Day weekend (and following one of hopefully many Liberty football victories). Today, we are going to hop around the expansion site, checking in on various locations and see what kind of work took place during the last three days. Photos 2 and 3 were taken on the ground floor, as most of the drop ceiling has been installed in the restroom areas, while the entire drop ceiling is in place in the large areas just before the north and south elevator towers. Photos 4 and 5 show pictures from the Flames Club Pavilion level, including tiling work in the restrooms and an almost complete HVAC ventilation system in the ceiling. Photos 6 and 7 show some of the interior work on the suite level (fourth floor), where cabinets continue to be installed, while several of the bar tables have been added. Photos 8, 9, 10 and 11 were taken on the press level (fifth floor), including a view down the hallway that leads to the main press area, the risers in the main press area, a view of the field from atop the risers and a view from Jeff Barber’s suite, that will allow our Athletics Director to overlook the south entrance and the tailgating lots next to the Liberty Bookstore. Finally, our last picture shows some of the work that has been started on the ground level, which Branch & Associate, Inc., has used as a staging area since last January.

Sept. 3, 2010: Today’s blog post is going up a bit later, because the entire Athletics Department has spent the last day preparing for a special event tomorrow … Liberty’s season opener at Lynchburg City Stadium against St. Francis, Pa. The game will be a step back in time for the Flames, as it will mark the program’s first game at City Stadium since 1989 (for more on Liberty’s history at City Stadium, read today’s feature on LibertyFlames.com). We only had a chance to grab a few pictures late in the day inside the facility, including two different views of Osborne Stadium during tonight’s women’s soccer game against James Madison (picture No. 1 is off the back balcony on the third floor of the facility, while picture No. 5 was taking from the Chancellor’s conference room on the fifth floor). The rest of the pictures were taken on the fourth floor, a floor where 17 of the 18 individual suites have been sold for the 2010 season. The expansion crew continues to pull fiber on this floor, while cabinets have started to be installed in several of the suites. Finally, the Williams Stadium expansion blog will be taking a brief break, as we get refreshed for closing coverage of this nine-month project. Although the blog will not return until next Tuesday, rest assure, work inside the facility will continue during those days, bringing the project that much closer to completion.

Sept. 2, 2010: With a month left before Liberty officially moves into the expanded Williams Stadium, finishing work around the site has begun. Today, Branch & Associate, Inc., started to clear out of the staging area to the south of the stadium. The chain link fencing around the area has been removed and only a few of the portable trailers remain (those which served as a place of headquarters for Branch & Associate, Inc. since January). The area is slated to be completely cleared out by early next week, allowing Liberty University to begin to lay grass sod around the area that has seen a lot of traffic the past nine months. Additionally, the area behind the new Luurtsema Center has been cleared and a 65-space parking lot should be ready in the next few weeks. The lot will be used on game days for suite holders and for special events, which will be hosted inside the third floor of the facility in the Flames Club Pavilion room. Finally, Nick Pierce had a chance to catch up with Director of Athletics Jeff Barber for a brief audio interview, where Barber gives us further insight into the progress of the expansion project.

Sept. 1, 2010: For our first blog post of the month of September, we bring you a view of the progress inside the fourth floor of the Williams Stadium expansion project. More than 80 percent of the seats have been installed in the 18 individual luxury suites on this level. The seats are located out on the balcony and will allow 12 people to sit outside the suite. Internally, all the drywall work has been completed and several of the suites have already received their first coat of finishing paint and the individual thermostats that will control the temperature inside the luxury box. Finally, we found a large grouping of cabinets inside one of the suites today, which will be distributed to each of the luxury areas during the next several days.